U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,754 discloses such a method for compacting grass or leafage. The material lifted from the ground is first fed to a shredder for comminuting the clipped grass such that is may be compacted more effectively thereafter in a press device and deposited in a container which has to resist the considerable forces resulting from the tightly compressed material forced in. Since the material is comminuted prior to the press operation a higher compression is achieved. The shredder is provided transversely to the mowing direction and has arranged at its exit a pair of consolidating augers followed by a compression auger arranged in mowing direction, and compacting the collected material in an easily manageable container or in a heavy bag.
The known equipment compacting mowed grass by the steps of shredding, consolidating, and then compressing is rather complex in design using a shredder, a pair of lateral feeding means, and longitudinally arranged compressing means. Specifically, the transmission and branching of driving power for the separate devices is complex. The device has a considerable weight and is space and energy consuming. Therefore, the known compacter is hardly adaptable for smaller garden equipment, as lawnmowers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,242,658 discloses a lawnmower with baler with similar disadvantages as in above discussed equipment. By means of a feeding auger the clipped grass is conveyed to a press channel provided with a reciprocating pressure piston. Due to the high number of elements this apparatus is relatively heavy and space-consuming. Furthermore, the clipped grass is no more comminuted prior to compacting, resulting in a low compression.
Similar lawnmowers have been disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,222,853 and 3,791,118, all using a compression auger having a longitudinal axis essentially extending in the mowing direction. However, none of these known lawnmowers uses a shredder means arranged up-stream of the compacter.